SILENCE CAN BE GOLDEN, BUT SUCH ISN’T CASE WITH MANTI TE’O

We should be yawning by this point, but instead, some of us are yearning.

Will we get to talk to him this time?

Manti Te’o should be getting boring by now, but with this embargo, there remains a tint of bizarre.

Really, McCoy is shutting us out?

It is completely understandable that Chargers coach Mike McCoy would want to shield his celebrity of a linebacker from prying media members, and if the request came from Te’o, one can empathize with that as well. But this story isn’t like a headache or a bruise that will go away if you just leave it alone. It’s more like an anxiety disorder — the only way to kill it is with exposure.

You got the feeling that Te’o was beginning to realize that last week when he attended the Maxim Hot 100 party in Hollywood. Earlier this month, the men’s magazine ranked Manti’s fake girlfriend as the 69th hottest woman in the world on its annual list, and you have to credit the rookie for showing up as the butt of the joke.

Any middle school kid can tell you that, if you’re called a name, smiling and saying “good one” is a much better repellent than getting mad. And if you’re Te’o, every film session of yours should include a Conan O’Brien monologue so you can learn how to make fun of yourself.

Obviously, answering reporters’ questions isn’t always conducive to self-deprecation. But it still seemed like an ill-advised strategy on the Chargers’ end last Monday when Te’o was deemed unavailable to talk.

Isn’t that, in effect, singling Te’o out because of his celebrity status? Isn’t that an indication that the player who wants nothing more than normalcy isn’t quite normal?

Terrell Davis disagrees. Playing in the Marshall Faulk Celebrity Championship golf tournament in Carlsbad on Saturday, the former Broncos running back said that McCoy was simply establishing trust with his new linebacker, and that the effort to protect him from “the hounds” was the coach’s way of saying, “I got your back.”

Perhaps. Given how McCoy witnessed the Tim Tebow tomfoolery in Denver firsthand, he may be as qualified as any figure in the league when it comes to quelling a media circus. But might not a more effective approach have been to pull Te’o aside, say, “I know you don’t like doing this, I know you’re ready for all of this to be over, but like wind sprints or power squats, enduring the pain is the best way to get the results you want”?

Besides, inquiries pertaining to Te’o’s personal life have started to grow tired anyway. This guy was an All-American who went 38th overall in the draft. Believe it or not, local reporters are much more interested in asking him football-related questions at this point.

Hasn’t Manti said from Day 1 that he wants the focus to be on football?

The Te’o factor will no doubt add an enduring storyline to the Chargers’ season. Not even Tebow entered camp this transcendent a figure. But once Te’o figures out the schemes, once he masters the formations and hones his NFL instincts, his next step will be to endear himself to the public.

That only happens if the public has a chance to get to know him.

Organized team activities resume at Chargers Park today, and Te’o will again be a subject of curiosity for anyone with a notepad, camera, or microphone. We’ll want to know how he fared against the veterans, how he’s adjusting to the Bolts’ system, and, quite possibly, how he enjoyed the Maxim party.

Te’o may not want to field the questions, but he should. Oddly enough, sometimes talking is the best way to stop a conversation.